


Boxing the Stars

by kimpotato



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, star tear disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24698674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimpotato/pseuds/kimpotato
Summary: When Mingi had told him, two months ago, that his childhood friend has stars in his eyes, Aaron didn’t think he meant literally. Not until Mingi brought Jonghyun in for checkup one morning.
Relationships: Aaron Kwak | Aron/Lee Jieun | IU, Choi Minki | Ren & Kim Jonghyun | JR, Choi Minki | Ren/Kim Jonghyun | JR, Kim Jonghyun | JR & Aaron Kwak | Aron, Kim Jonghyun | JR/Aaron Kwak | Aron
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18
Collections: Nu'fics x The Parallel





	Boxing the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Nu'fics x The Parallel Fic Fest  
> Category: Diseases (Star tear disease)

When his hoobae Mingi had told him, two months ago, that his childhood friend has stars in his eyes, Aaron didn’t think he meant literally.

Not until Mingi brought Jonghyun in for checkup one morning, after the junior ophthalmologist went back to his hometown for a three-day break.

“He’s always had them,” Mingi explained as Aaron instructed Jonghyun to sit on the examination chair so he could take a better look at him. “But it’s gotten worse. He won’t say it, but I’m sure it’s affecting his vision.”

“Thank you, Mingi-ya,” Aaron hushed his hoobae. “I assume that you’ve already done the usual tests?”

Mingi sniffed, insulted. “I may have only been in practice for a year, but I _am_ still a doctor.”

Aaron nodded and flashed his light in Jonghyun’s eyes. “And you found nothing wrong.”

“I wouldn’t bring him to you if I already found what’s wrong, _sunbaenim_.”

Aaron chuckled and then tuned out his hoobae, finally focusing on his patient. “So, Jonghyun-ssi, can you tell me when this started?”

Jonghyun blinked starry eyes, and it was obvious to Aaron that his patient was in pain. “I’ve had it for as long as I can remember,” the young man answered politely. 

“And it never caused you any pain before?”

Jonghyun shook his head and tried his best not to blink too much. 

“When did it start hurting?” 

Aaron watched Jonghyun look away, quietly biting his lower lip. From behind them he felt Mingi move, as if he wanted to butt in their conversation but decided last-minute not to.

“I have to know what happened so I can help you,” Aaron gently reminded his patient. “Don’t worry, nothing you say will get out of this room.” When Jonghyun looked past him, Aaron turned and found Mingi staring at them with narrowed eyes.

“Why don’t you wait in the visitors’ lounge, Mingi-ya?” Aaron suggested.

His hoobae snorted and planted his back against the wall, arms crossed on his chest. “I already know when it started, sunbae,” he replied. He nodded at Jonghyun and asked, “Do you want me to tell him instead?”

Jonghyun shook his head slowly and sucked in a deep breath. He then faced Aaron, eyes sparkling with vast galaxies in them.

“Have you ever been in love, songsaengnim?” 

Aaron wasn’t sure what answer he had been expecting, but it was definitely not that. His mind suddenly flashed to an image of a girl, long gone but never forgotten, one with a sweet smile and a charming voice that had lulled him to sleep many times in the past. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he furrowed his brow at his patient.

“What does it have to do with anything?”

Jonghyun smiled sadly. “I’ve never personally experienced it, not until recently,” he explained. “My eyes, they started hurting when I realized I am, in fact, in love with someone.”

Aaron smiled kindly at his patient. “I don’t think it has anything to do with that, Jonghyun-ssi.”

Jonghyun shrugged. “Then please find out what’s wrong, songsaengnim,” he responded. “Because my heart hurts, yet the pain in my eyes is ten times worse.”

***

The next time Jonghyun came back for a checkup, Mingi announced that his friend had started crying stars two days ago.

Aaron frowned and examined Jonghyun’s eyes with his flashlight. He had given him drops and pain medication a week ago, telling him to come back for his test results before the end of the month. But Jonghyun’s results came back clean, giving him no medical explanation for what he has.

Except that looking at the current condition of Jonghyun’s eyes, it was obvious to Aaron that there was something _very_ wrong.

“What do you mean, he started crying stars?” 

“I mean that in the most literal sense, sunbae,” Mingi replied, gesturing to his friend.

Both doctors turned to the patient. Jonghyun stared back at them, offering them a sad little smile. Only then did Aaron notice that Jonghyun’s eyes had lost some of its sparkle. It wasn’t that noticeable at first, but the more he stared into them, the more he was sure.

“Ah, songsaengnim,” Jonghyun called him out. “Do you want to see them?”

“Stop it, Jonghyun-ah,” Mingi hissed. “It’ll only hurt.”

“But Mingi-ya,” Jonghyun gently explained. “He has to know what’s happening so he can help me.”

Aaron was still trying to decide on the best response when he noticed that Jonghyun’s eyes began to mist over, like a thousand stars suddenly wanted to escape from their prison. His patient blinked once, twice, and a single tear rolled out of his right eye—a tear the color of diamonds and all the hidden truths of the universe. It rolled past his cheek and down his chin, taking some of the stars with it as it went.

Aaron wasn’t sure how, or why, but he was certain he heard a tiny sound, like the clink of a small glass bell, the second Jonghyun’s tear dropped in his lap. 

***

He found himself becoming obsessed with finding a cure.

When he was not treating other patients, Aaron spent his time researching anything related to Jonghyun’s condition. In libraries, in medical forums. He even asked colleagues and senior doctors if they’ve ever encountered anything like it before.

Finally, one of the new doctors, a recent hire who had spent his residency in Nara, Japan, told him that he had heard of a similar case in the small town he had worked in.

“They called it the star tear disease,” Dongho explained over lunch, as he munched on a chicken sandwich. “Another doctor handled the case, but he’s since moved to Tokyo after that.”

“Do you think you can get in touch with him?” Aaron asked, trying his best not to sound too eager.

Dongho chewed thoughtfully and picked up his phone. “I don’t know if he’ll pick up,” he mused as he scrolled down his address book and clicked on a name. “But nothing like the present to try, huh?”

Aaron waited as Dongho made the call. After a few rings, the person on the other line picked up, and it took Aaron everything he had not to grab the phone from Dongho’s hand.

“Minhyun-ah,” Dongho greeted amicably. “Sorry to call so suddenly. You good to talk?” A pause. “Remember Nako-san’s case from a few years back?” Another pause. “We have a similar case here in Seoul, and one of my sunbaes’ handling it. Is it okay if he asks you some questions?”

Dongho nodded a few times, and then smiled as he handed his phone to Aaron. The senior doctor took it and tried his best not to shake as he pressed the phone against his ear.

“Hello, this is Dr. Kwak Aaron.”

“Hello,” a soft voice replied from the other line. “This is Dr. Hwang Minhyun. Dongho said you have a patient with star tear disease?”

Aaron nodded, before remembering that the other doctor couldn’t see him. “I’ve tried different treatments but none have worked. May I ask how you treated your patient?”

There was a long pause, so long that Aaron thought the call had been dropped by accident.

“Hello? Dr. Hwang?”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Kwak,” Minhyun replied quietly. “The star tear disease has no medical cure.”

***

“He has to what?” Mingi asked. 

Aaron sighed as his hoobae huffed indignantly on behalf of his friend. To their right, Jonghyun sat quietly, as if he were mulling over what Aaron had just told them a few seconds ago. His eyes had almost lost all of its sparkle, and from what Mingi had told Aaron a few days back, Jonghyun had stopped seeing colors two weeks ago.

“Look,” Aaron answered, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “It doesn’t make sense to me either, okay? I have spent years studying medicine, relying on science for everything.”

“But now you’re telling us to do what some random doctor is recommending?!”

“I don’t see how it will hurt, honestly,” Aaron shrugged. “What’s so wrong with telling the truth?”

Mingi opened his mouth to answer back, but suddenly shut it close. He gave his friend a sideways glance and sighed. “Well, what do you think?”

Jonghyun smiled warmly at both doctors and shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do what you’re asking me to do, songsaengnim.”

Aaron frowned. “Even if it’s the only cure we have?”

Jonghyun shrugged and stood, picking up his bag. “Even if it means going blind.” He bowed down respectfully. “Thank you for your time, songsaengnim.” Nodding at Mingi, Jonghyun headed out the door, carefully feeling his way out.

Aaron stared helplessly at Mingi, as if asking for help to change his friend’s mind. Mingi shook his head sadly and started following Jonghyun out the door.

“He won’t do it, sunbae,” the junior doctor replied. “The girl he’s in love with is getting married next week, and Jonghyunnie would rather suffer forever than ruin her chance at happiness.”

***

_“I’m sorry, Dr. Kwak,” Minhyun replied quietly. “The star tear disease has no medical cure.”_

_Aaron was seized with panic. “What do you mean there’s no medical cure?”_

_Minhyun sighed from the other line. “Star tear disease happens to people who love too much, even when their object of affection fails to reciprocate their feelings.” A pause. “The only way to cure your patient is for him to confess his feelings to this person, and have that person love him back.”_

_“. . . and if this doesn’t happen?”_

_Minhyun sighed again. “Then your patient will continue crying stars until he loses his eyesight altogether.”_

***

Aaron glared at the name on his phone, as if by doing so, the owner of the name would suddenly appear in front of him. But he could only deal with one supernatural event in his lifetime, and he felt that Kim Jonghyun’s case was it.

“Nothing like the present to try, huh?” he said to no one, echoing Dongho’s statement from a month back.

He pressed the Call button, listening quietly at the ringing tone, wondering if the person on the other line would ever pick up.

One ring. Two. Three.

“This is stupid,” he muttered, finger hovering over the Cancel button to end the call, just as it connected and a quiet “Hello?” filled the room.

Aaron grabbed the phone, pressed it against his ear, and sighed. “Ji-eun-ah,” he whispered, then smiled softly when Ji-eun murmured his name. He looked out the window, briefly wondering how Jonghyun was doing, if he regretted not telling the person he loved how he really felt about her. 

“Aaron-ah? Is everything okay?”

Aaron waited, then shook his head and smiled. He wasn’t sure why, or how, but he’s certain Jonghyun was going to be just fine.

“Everything’s all right. I’m all right.”

“. . . then why are you calling, Aaron-ah?”

Aaron’s eyes twinkled slightly when Ji-eun whispered his name once again. And though his eyes have misted over, he was certain he would not be crying any stars tonight.

“I’ve missed you,” he answered softly, affectionately. “I’ve missed you, Ji-eun-ah.”

###

**Author's Note:**

> Check out [ranpo elitist's post](https://twitter.com/rchimedesu/status/1246209686682185730) for an explanation of star tear disease. It's a really interesting read!
> 
> Thanks for the beta, manager-nim!
> 
> Visit [KP's Corner](https://twitter.com/thelittlebugi/) for more of my plot bunnies and drabbles.


End file.
